Builder's legal protection - to do or not to do?

  • Erstellt am 2019-03-08 11:29:32

Zaba12

2019-03-09 11:56:43
  • #1
Because I know the reputation of each individual trade. I have been inside some built houses and even live in a multi-family property where all my trades have been involved. That means I can definitely assess the quality. For example, plasterers: The ETICS facade is over 10m high and even in raking light the facade is smooth from bottom to top like a baby's bottom. I never really noticed how good the work is until I once saw pictures here where you can see the panels through the plaster.

Generally, this situation is of course unusual, so I basically find a building savings contract and insurance as mentioned useful.
 

Nordlys

2019-03-09 12:03:34
  • #2
There are minor cosmetic issues, like a wave in the plaster, the house won't collapse because of that, or real defects. For example, if something leaks in somewhere or if there is a draft. Minor issues with legal protection equal potential for dispute. Minor issues without legal protection equal just give me 500,- and we'll forget it. Real defects are usually fixed anyway, every general contractor understands that. K.
 

Zaba12

2019-03-09 12:09:21
  • #3
I talked to a colleague yesterday and he said (hearsay) that around Erlangen there are trades that refuse to work for Siemens employees (engineers) or do not accept orders from them. Guess why...

The general contractor/the individual trades need legal protection.

There are just general contractors who do not fulfill their duty but also clients who look for a needle in a haystack.
 

Nordlys

2019-03-09 12:22:36
  • #4
Here, some do not work for teachers.
 

berny

2019-03-09 12:24:32
  • #5
Hello Barbara, you asked for opinions. Here is mine:
After the general contractor (GU) started behaving rudely after a few months, the site manager was seemingly only on site about once a month, and various botched jobs by the subcontractors became visible in the construction process, we engaged a construction lawyer. Initially, certain amounts were withheld from the installment payments until the botched work was corrected, then paid, and during the final settlement, a certain amount was withheld due to ongoing defects and additional expenses on our part. The GU has now sued us. So far, we have spent about 8k on the lawyer. No idea how much more it will cost. Seen this way, 3 - 5k for a legal expenses insurance would have been well invested. However, like everywhere, one probably has to read the fine print extremely carefully to actually get cost coverage in case of need. After all, insurance companies live on taking in more than they pay out. So it needs to be carefully considered. If I had listened to the "gut feeling" of my wife and son regarding the personality of the managing director, we would not have built with this GU. But would the next one have been better? Nowadays, almost all players seem to have too many jobs and therefore cut corners more or less. You can never get 100.00 % perfection, of course, but the tendency for botched work has certainly not decreased due to the pressure on deadlines in construction.
However, if, as often described for example with [Nordlys], you know the contractor, he is from the area, has a good reputation, etc., you can certainly do without it. If not: read the insurance conditions very carefully and take out something like this. 3 - 5k is then not much.
 

Egberto

2019-03-09 16:41:02
  • #6
Thank you Berny for the experience report! How anyone comes to the conclusion that a lawyer’s letter only costs €100 is beyond me. Besides, it only really gets expensive with the expert, like opening up building components etc. And yes, of course there are general contractors you can talk to who use good judgment, but unfortunately you don’t know that beforehand. And regarding the good reputation you can't always rely on either, the robber is indeed a cautionary example.
 

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